The End of the Affair (1999)

THE END OF THE AFFAIR has a couple good sex scenes, I'll give you
that. One involves a classic case of coitus interruptus; the other
rocks the bed during the London Blitz, complete with crazy camera
shaking for each bomb blast. (That the latter seems like a long-
lost Monty Python skit is neither here nor there...) The rest of
this woeful wartime drama is the stuff of sagging eyelids. Blame
the back-and-forth time-shifting. Unless, I suppose, you've read
Graham Greene's novel, good luck following the plot, much less the
core emotions of the three characters. (Hey, how 'bout a chart de-
tailing who loves/hates whom and when?) Roger Pratt's moody photo-
graphy doesn't exactly add to the excitement, either. (And the a-
ward for Movie Most Likely to Induce Napping goes to...) Thank God
for Ian Hart, who provides some sorely needed (if very, *very* mild)
comic relief as a not-so-skilled private investigator. Laughter.
Now *there's* a concept... Neil Jordon writes and directs. Ralph
Finnes, Julianne Moore, and Stephen Rea star. (Rated "R"/109 min.)
Grade: C
Copyright 2000 Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros